The strikes on 5live: from Swindon to....?

Morning Chris.... I feel I know you so well. ;)



I am minding my neighbours 7 year old son for the morning as his school is closed for the strike. She is at work.



One school here didn't even decide whether it was closing or not until yesterday. Makes childcare arrangements slight difficult to say the least.

The country, for what ever reason and for whom ever caused it is in financial deficit by one huge amount- pensions paid to public service workers are supported by the tax payer- It makes sense that one asks for many to bear a little each than to keep moaning that their future be ringed fenced at the expense of others.

My pension was decimated by the then chancellor Gordon Browne-He did this when the countries gold reserves were more than double what they are now and we were not in the red as we are now- One can speculate why- My theory is that it was done as a bloody minded issue to hammer the then middle class and appease his "Left Wing" associates.

I agree with post 2 and where exactly is Gordon Brown to apologise and inform us why he had it in for private and company pension owners ? I'm not remotely rich but we where an easy target as far as his ideology went.Saving for your old age ? They must be loaded and we can't have that,lets batter them. Nevermind the banks someone needs to expose and investigate the insurance companies who promised all us mugs who where encouraged to take these turkeys out and where given the hard sell and promised the earth if you took out a AVC pension retirement plan, as I did but only receive a return of £4 a week after investing a 5 figure sum.This investment is now being slowly drip fed back to me and due to under performing markets and even more tax my investment is completely worthless.Compared to the insurance companies and their unscrupulous selling or mis-selling as I call it, the public sector workers seem to have quite a good and secure deal.

As always Mason is most interested in selling himself and his demanding schedule - nothing new here

Well as a founder member of Chris's fan club I would like to say that we should all be at least a bit pleased he isn't JUST going on about Manchester, or stuck in one place, at least he is trying to get a cross section of views. Fact is the station is full of people who travel no further than the Trafford Centre for a viewpoint from the public so I say good on him.



And I don't normally disagree with you, Welcome........

Chris, I wish the rest of your colleagues held the same view of these blogs.

yeah, ok, grudging respect where it's due

Mombser2: If you think Gordon Brown was left wing then you have serious problems (political not mental)!



Brown was merely doing his duty for Queen and capitalism as all previous Labour Prime Ministers have done. His (Like Blair, Wilson and co} only difference was that he didn't belong to a party called the Conservative and Unionist Party who are the natural representative Parliamentary party of the rich and powerful who control evrything we think and do!



Now get real. Think for yourself, read different political literature apart from what the tabloid editorials throw up and then address the real reasons why pensions in the public sector are under attack!

Zal: Don't be such a crawler. You'll never get a job as a 5 Live blog editor like that!

I can but dream Nick.....



Just imagine........Me and Richard Bacon together in a studio.... Now where did I put my shotgun? ;)



(It's a joke Beeb! I don't want to be Clarksoned))